Overview
Introduction
A small skin break can provide entry for an infection that advances beneath apparently modest skin changes.
A small skin break can provide entry for an infection that advances beneath apparently modest skin changes. Necrotizing fasciitis destroys fascia and subcutaneous tissue, compromises local blood flow, and can produce shock before the wound looks dramatic. The bedside mismatch is the danger signal: pain far more severe than the visible findings, rapid change over hours, and systemic toxicity. Treat that pattern as a surgical emergency. Urgent surgical involvement, resuscitation, and intravenous antimicrobials must proceed together; a reassuring early photograph, low LRINEC score, or pending scan must not delay source control.